1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, such as a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been known an image forming apparatus in which a toner image on a peripheral surface of a photoconductive drum is transferred and fixed on a sheet during a process of feeding the sheet through a conveyance passage from a front wall (one wall) to a rear wall (the other wall) of a housing of the image forming apparatus, and the sheet reversed in a reversing passage connected to the conveyance passage is discharged in a discharge section in a top wall of the housing of the image forming apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei. 8-240945.
The housing of the image forming apparatus as above is formed into a box-shape, and the rear wall of the housing near which the reversing passage is provided is generally formed in a vertical direction. Accordingly, it is necessary to dispose the vertical rear wall in such a rearward position as to provide the reversing passage with a space for assuring smooth conveyance.
However, the bottom area of the housing is the same as the top area of the housing. Consequently, in the case of installing the image forming apparatus on a desk and the like, a large space is needed for its installation. Further, the image forming apparatus is often installed in the state that the rear wall of the housing faces a wall of a room. In the case where a plug of an electronic power supply cable or an interface cable, such as a printer cable, is connected to a cable connection port provided in the rear wall, a space for accommodating the plug and the cable is required between the rear wall of the housing and the room wall, which consequently causes the installation to require a larger space. Further, in the case of providing an outflow opening in the rear wall, it is necessary to dispose the image forming apparatus to provide a sufficient distance from the room wall to keep the outflow opening from being blocked off. Accordingly, it also causes the installation to require larger space.